SushiSamba Rumored to Be Pursuing Merkato Space

A meatpacking insider recently speculated to us that the former Merkato 55 space would sit vacant for some time, since the rent was apparently quite high. But we now hear from another source that none other than SushiSamba is in final negotiations for the upstairs-downstairs venue. A rep for SushiSamba didn’t responded to our request for comment yesterday, but the neighborhood would make sense for the chain’s third New York location. Stay tuned.